Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Snide is giving away a free track to celebrate the release of the debut EP on Rico Tubbs' and Terry Hooligan's label Bass=Win. It's called the Cot Damn EP - it takes in rave, house, baltimore, breaks, electro, hiphop influences etc - and you can find it on Beatport HERE!

It's had plays out from Calvertron, Peo De Pitte, AC Slater, B.Rich, Rico Tubbs and Terry obviously, and plenty more - so you know it's good!

Electronic duo Polygon Palace formed when Londoner, Adam Ferns and New Zealander, Gabriel Crossan bonded over a common love for left-of-centre dance music while living abroad in Melbourne, Australia.

Since the 2009 release of the duo's Nintendo-disco single Tokyo Getaway, Polygon Palace made waves on the blogs with their remix of 'In It Together' from Californians Human Life as they tear up the Melbourne underground dance scene.

'We Have A Visual' is a tune about vampire-hunting robots and cross-dimensional hedonism, with synths (yes, you read that correctly).

Electric Soulside is a Belgian duo based in Brussels.Brothers, Patrick and Steve Hoody, have established themselves in the recent years as creative artists and have garnered praise due to their unpredictable tendency to merge styles such as: electro, house, breakbeat, new disco and funky.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Just a quick one to let you lot know that tonight see's a world first...

Everything Everything will be streaming their London show via a groundbreaking iPhone/iPadapp. The band hit the stage tonight at 9.10pm UK time. If you've not already downloaded the app you can get itHERE!

Friday, December 10, 2010

So I ate myself, Bite By Bite is the new album by Black Moth Super Rainbow member Ryan Graveface. It continues along the same path that other Black Moth Super Rainbow band members have taken with their solo albums. It’s a rich album with a lot of depth and an almost childlike wonder.

Mainly using an acoustic guitar, a banjo, and a xylophone, Ryan is able to create a friendly and fulfilling album from start to finish. This is sometimes an odd feeling to get since the album is supposedly a story that chronicles the events in the life of a serial killer. It’s definitely a interesting way to cover that kind kind of subject matter. For instance in the track ‘Pieces’, between the soothing sounds of a banjo and xylophone, Ryan sings ‘I can’t believe it was just yesterday/I cleaned my hands and washed the blood away’. Other tracks like ‘Pink Clouds In The Woods’ and ‘Magnesium Light’ have a seemingly more uplifting feel, the latter having lyrics like ‘I looked at the skies tonight and said I love the sun’. ‘An Admission’ is the highlight of the album, coming it at around 10 minutes long. The psychedelic sun-soaked choral “woo’s” are backed by a driving drum beat that builds and builds until it explodes. The rest of the track feels like the up and down ride through the “killers” mind as he wrestles with what he has done and what will become of him.

So I ate myself, Bite By Bite is an eclectic ride and surprisingly catchy, despite it’s subject matter. It’s a great album to have on in the background for any road trip. So I ate myself, Bite By Bite may not be for everyone but, if you let yourself go along for the ride, it’s a highly enjoyable bit of experimental folk that should satisfy most listeners.

Mt. Chimarea is a fitting name for Brasstronaut’s debut album. Just like the mythical creature made up of parts of different animals, the band’s sound floats between experimental jazz, electronica and pop sounds. Using a wide array of instruments such as the trumpet, lap steel guitar, flugelhorn and the seldom-heard EWI (a breath controlled synthesizer), Brasstronaut have made a haunting and rich album.

‘Hearts Trompet’ starts with a simple bass before building into a wall of strings that is simply beautiful. ‘Insects’ is a more jazzy number that lazily bounces around before letting the horns loose to fill the room. ‘Ravan’, one of the highlights of the album, perfectly fuses the horns, bass and drums with moody vocals to create a moving and enchanting piece of music. ‘Six Toes’, having a New Orleans-style jazz sound, is another track where the band shows their talent in crafting complex arrangements and skill with each instrument they use. ‘Slow Knots’, which is my personal favorite track on the album, starts of with the lyrics ‘Do you think that I betrayed you, Honey don’t you I’m too dumb for that / you kept a list of all those bad nights/we both know it got to long’. The track uses a subtle drum beat and bass to build the track until it kicks in and melds the vocals, keyboard and horns into a sublime echo filled lament on love lost.

The band has built credibility on the road, having played with bands from Belle Orchestre to Why?, and in international festivals like Reykjavik’s Iceland Airwaves ‘09, where they appeared on-stage with the brass section from Sigur Ros. They sure have my attention and I can’t wait to see where they go in the future. Brasstronaut, the Vancouver based six-piece, pride themselves on being unclassifiable. Fortunately for us, they have crafted a perfectly accessibly album that is fresh and exciting to hear. Surely a top album of 2010, this is a must buy for any real music fan and highly recommended.

I stumbled across this the other day. It is a sister release to the Japanese Beatmakers Download I posted a few months ago. More outstanding instrumental (sometimes jazzy, sometimes thumpin') hip hop beats that will provide the perfect soundtrack to whatever you are doing.

Here is a description, in their own words...

"The tendency towards advanced beats seems to be more and more a global phenomenon. As we already have said: Decentred beats for decentred people. During the last few years arose also in Russia a small, loosely networked scene of people, who have experimented with Hip Hop-beats. But in this case, the young Russians have no examples or references for this kind of music in the musical culture of their own country. All of their inspirations are taken from blogs and from the intensive study of their role models worldwide. The result is an organic, very playful, snappy and jazzy sound, which is carried by a common vibe, but is in the same way as diverse as the finest egos of the artists themselves.

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Found this lovely bit of "minimal instrumental piano soundtrack type stuff" (yes, that is what I am calling it!) the other day and it's turning out to be a perfect soundtrack to the rainy last few days.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

I got home today and found this lovely bit of awesome in my inbox...hope you all enjoy it!

In their own words....

"We've just kicked off our 5 Year anniversary releases with a new compilation, "5 Years Of Bass", and as a thank you to everyone who has supported us over the years we're giving you a free download of the whole album...

5 Years ago, at the age of 16, label boss Josh Brandon pressed up 200 copies of his latest bedroom production and began walking round London selling them to anyone who would listen. And 5 years and over 50 releases on we are proud to have been able to deliver so many top quality tracks from so many amazing artists, including some of Dubstep's leading artists and most prolific rising talent. From being home to Kiss FM's Hatcha, MRK1, Kromestar, Tes La Rok, and Cyrus, to Bare Noize, Lost, Rebel Sonix & Aquadrop.

Gaining consistent support from the biggest tastemakers, the label's singles and compilations have gone on to reach the top echelons of all the leading download store charts including iTunes, Beatport and Juno.

This album is a journey back through the years, showcasing 20 completely unmixed tracks including forthcoming exclusives all the way across to the label's biggest anthems since it's launch.

Thanks for all your support over the years and we hope you enjoy the album"

Monday, November 15, 2010

Riva Starr introduces us to his brand new alter-ego, STARR TRAXX and takes us back... way back.

With plenty of punch and lashings of funk the piano riff of "More" draws inspiration from by gone house classics, while a simple male vocal gives it some early '90s flavor.

Bulgarian producer Kink takes time out from rekindling acid house classics to rework "More" into a timeless gem, using deep keys and a spread of 90's sounds, whilst Pirupa & Pigi retain the harder-edged dance floor aesthetics of the original.

In Snatch! tradition this powerful piano led cut, with its vibrant house vibe, shows just how comfortably Riva can navigate the musical spectrum.

Friday, November 12, 2010

After extensive 2010 festival appearances which included HMV’s inaugural Next Big Thing Festival and - from 2,000 acts - to officially open SXSW 2010, Welsh act Polly Mackey & The Pleasure Principle release their debut commercially-released single ‘Higher’ via The Playground Records. Produced by Robert Harder (Babyshambles, Brian Eno, David Byrne), ‘Higher’ combines Polly’s reflective lyrical talent, thumping rhythms and an anthemic driving chorus that won’t be leaving you any time soon.

The Welsh band’s ‘fan only’ E.P. ‘Silent Film’ received extensive national & regional radio play with the track ‘The Wall’ recently being featured on an episode of BBC Radio 1 online/BBC 2 Television's teen drama series The Cut – an episode which also featured tracks from Florence & The Machine, Thom Yorke, Mumford & Sons and The Pixies.

With all of these plus an unusually large number of other impressive early accomplishments behind them, 2010/2011 can be clearly seen as a breakthrough period for the band.

JEUCE is in charge of remix duties here and they don't disappoint with their amazing and moving rework!

Friday, November 05, 2010

Party, DJ and Producer crew Boemklatsch has teamed up with Mike Lord to make a song fit for peaktime dance moments. One More Day is already played on BBC1 radio and has major support from DJ's around the globe. Remixers High Rankin, Hidden Cat, PeaceTreaty and Stereo Killaz do their interpretation of this 'goodvibe' track. B side Nukes Of Hazard is more Techno-ish, so combined with remixers RipTidE and Shameboy it fits well in the whole release. Tracklist: 1A Boemklatsch ft Mike Lord - One More Day (Original)
2A Boemklatsch ft Mike Lord - One More Day (Radio edit)
3A Boemklatsch ft Mike Lord - One More Day (High Ranking remix)
4A Boemklatsch ft Mike Lord - One More Day (PeaceTreaty remix) !!!!!!!!!!!!!HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !
5A Boemklatsch ft Mike Lord - One More Day (Stereo Killaz remix)
6A Boemklatsch ft Mike Lord - One More Day (Hidden Cat remix)
1B Boemklatsch - Nukes Of Hazard (Original)
2B Boemklatsch - Nukes Of Hazard (Shameboy remix) !!!!HOT!!!!
3B Boemklatsch - Nukes Of Hazard (RipTidE remix)

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Dan Bull has just released a new track, "Death of ACTA," about the secretive Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a privately negotiated super-copyright treaty.

In his own words...

"I wrote it after reading about the terrifying implications of ACTA. I want it to raise awareness and make people act directly, by joining lobby groups (eg EFF and ORG) and putting pressure on their political representatives. The video was made on a zero budget, filmed and edited with the voluntary help of friends and colleagues. Directed and produced by Russ Houghton, and filmed at the Golden Hinde in Southwark. I'm an unsigned, unsignable geek rapper and activist, determined to make a living out of my music whilst sharing it all for free. Not sure how that will work yet, but working it out is all part of the fun."

For one night only Cable Club will be plunged into complete as we throw a Halloween rave that you might not come back from! Dust of your deadliest, dress for death and don't forget to bring a torch!
THE Z-SHED vs FAT! vs THEM, Saturday 30th October @ Cable, Bermondsey Street, LDN
W/ Martyn, The Bug and Daddy Freddy (Bashment set), Dj Derek, Foamo, Reso (D&B set), Raffertie, Pirate Soundsystem, Sduk, Cntrst, Them DJ's, JP, Absnif plus a whole load more...
Full details right here: www.wefearsilence.com

If you want to know a little more about each artist...see the blurbs below!!!

A Prelude to the Future features 20 of the best emerging artists that we have come across over the last year from all around the word & Specifically hand-picked from the ever-budding global Emerging Music scene is an array of amazing Soul, Hip-Hop and Spoken Word artists from all around the world (with exclusive and unreleased material) including...

REMOT (pronounced Remote), who is an Emerging Hip-Hop producer from Massachusetts, winner of the Hip-Hop DX American Gangster ReMixtape Contest in XXXX and long-term collaborator with World-renowned DJs/Producers Mick Boogie & Terry Urban on amazing projects such as the MTV, VH1 & Entertainment Weekly’s featured Viva La Hova, the Jay-Z & Coldplay mash-up mixtape that was endorsed by both Jay-Z & Chris Martin. His accomplishments also include production for Chip tha Ruler, Kidz in the Hall, U-N-I & Grammy-Nominated K-Os amongst others. Look out for the release of his Instrumental LP presented by Mick Boogie, Kevin Nottingham & AnmlHse.

We also feature UK-based Electro/Indie/Hip-Hop Artist SHADEZ (The Misfit) on this project, fresh off of his feature on Channel 4’s EVO Music Rooms sponsored by FIAT where he was hailed as one of the UK’s BEST unsigned artists, his in-store performance at the brand new CASIO G-SHOCK EAST Store in London, as well as performing at the astounding Love Box festival alongside class-acts like Duran Duran & N.E.R.D in 2009. Look out for his debut EP, ‘Shadez the Man that Fell to Earth’ which is out shortly.

Zayna Daze, a spoken word artist, experimental singer & instrumentalist from East London who draws her musical influences from Alicia Keys and The Carpenters. Having successfully won several UK-circuit poetry slams (Farrago) & participated in the BBC 4 2009 Poetry Slam, Zayna has released two collaborative efforts with lyricist and co-producer Cloudfistconceptz in the last year, successfully fusing music & spoken word on their ‘Cloudy Daze’ volumes. Look out for her first Solo EP project ‘The Black Sugar Project’ out in November 2010.

Also featured is emerging Nigerian ‘Alternative Soul’ Singer/Song-writerBEZ, a natural performer with a charismatic and playful stage presence who has previously opened for International Sensation, Asa & performed alongside Nigeria’s premiere artists like Tuface, 9ice & D’Banj as well as World-renowned Hip-Hop/Soul singer, Nneka. Bez also took part in the Nigerian leg of the 2009’s Hennessy Artistry Series which culminated in the Series Finale in NYC featuring the legendary Common & The Roots.

Joining us also on this journey as special guests are Portland, Oregon based Alternative Hip-Hop duo Moxie Black, fresh off of the success of their DJ Booth presented debut Promo album ‘How Did This Happen?’ with one of our favourite records of that album.

You will also get to hear new, exclusive, previously unheard & some re-released material from some of the finest emerging artists we’ve been privileged to work with, in the genres of Hip-Hop, Soul, R&B & Spoken Word from all around the world including emerging America’s fast-rising underground Hip-Hop and R&B artists Remot, Midian, EOM & Emay, UK Soul, Spoken-word & Hip-Hop artists Shanaz Dorsett, GREEDS, AKS & Chockz the Rapper, The BB architects, Nigeria’s own fast-rising Artists Waje, Kel & Naira and so much more in this 20-track opus & ode to EMERGING MUSIC.

Having a #1 Breakout on the Billboard dance chart as well as one of the Top 10 selling dance tracks at iTunes with their debut single “One (Your Name)” featuring Pharrell (10 million+ YouTube views) and already graced the covers of three major music magazines, superstar DJ collective Swedish House Mafia are proud to announce the highly-anticipated release of their solo works to date, Until One, on October 26th via Astralwerks Records. This compilation album is also a soundtrack to their forthcoming DVD ”Take One,” a film by Christian Larson which is a documentary about Swedish House Mafia.

The Swedish House Mafia consists of Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello. Three people, three producers and three pairs of eyes and ears perfectly aligned together, each with their own acclaimed independent record labels and world-renowned for their production prowess and roof-raising live shows. Until One compiles highlights of each Mafia member’s solo work to date including“One (Your Name)” feat Pharrell as well as the next single with Tinie Tempah entitled “MIAMI 2 IBIZA” to be released on October 19th.

An all-star celebration of dancefloor excess, highlights from this continuous mix includes Axwell’s 2007 smash “I Found U” and brand new solo outing “Nothing But Love”. “Valodja” sees Steve Angello teaming up with his younger brother AN21 (Antoine) plus his now legendary remake of Robin S’ “Show Me Love”. Other stand out tracks include Sebastian Ingrosso’s classic reworking of MGMT’s “Kids” entitled “Kidsos” and “Meich”, a mash up featuring Coldplay’s “Clocks”. Daft Punk’s “One More Time” and The Source featuring Candi Staton ‘You Got The Love’ also get the Swedish treatment.

Monday, October 04, 2010

The whole U&A family took over a Big Top at Scotland's most excellent Wickerman Festival this summer & smashed it both nights, with killer sets from Calvertron, The Loops of Fury, Mike Hulme, Vandal, Rektchordz, Simon Jackson, Resistance, and this massive workout from Zodiac Cartel.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Dub FX (real name Benjamin Stanford) is a worldwide street performer and studio recording artist from St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia. His trademark is creating rich live music using only his own performance aided by Live looping and effect pedals combined with his voice. He creates intricate hip hop, reggae, drum and bass rhythms and dubstep.